novelraw Chapter 122 : Chapter 122
Chapter 122 : Chapter 122
Chapter 122. Remnants of Evil (3)
Pure white flames.
A flame with a strange texture that seemed to ripple rather than burn.
That flame was what Sven had bloomed with his mana.
Also known as 'White Flame'.
That flame was special and horrific.
That flame soaked in as it burned.
A flame possessing the properties of both fire and liquid simultaneously.
When it clashed with fire, it extinguished that fire, and when it clashed with water, it continued to burn while mixed.
It did not permit the existence of any fire other than itself, and it did not bend before water.
White Flame, a fire that seemed to have reached the ideal that fire aspires to reach.
Such a fire flew toward Knox in the form of a long spear.
'Dammit……!'
Knox felt his mind go blank as well.
There was no gap to dodge.
It was an attack aimed at the momentary timing when changing direction became impossible due to the inertia of movement.
Knox was certain of his death.
At that moment.
BOOM!
With a heavy tearing sound, the white flame scattered into pieces.
"……?!"
A lump of wind flying from somewhere had deflected and shattered the White Flame.
And the source of that wind was Riman's fingertips.
Knox heard Riman's voice.
'I will provide cover. You just focus on attacking.'
'……!'
Currently, Riman was just exhausted and unable to perform large-scale magic or hand-to-hand combat.
Long-range support and grasping the battle situation were entirely possible.
'By the way, that White Flame… that's tricky to deal with.'
White Flame.
It doesn't extinguish even if blocked with water magic, and if countered with fire magic, the fire gets extinguished instead.
Then there is only one way to respond to that pure white fire.
Wind.
Deflecting the flames themselves with wind pressure was almost the only solution.
Sven muttered.
"Wind, is it……."
Sven nodded and continued.
"A wise judgment. Blocking with fire or water won't stop my White Flame. Wind is an appropriate choice."
However…….
"Even so, it's just a stopgap measure."
FWOOOOSH…….
Fragments of White Flame that bounced off after being hit by Riman's wind magic were scattered on the ground.
And they continued to burn in that state.
White Flame does not extinguish just because it is scattered.
Just as water does not instantly evaporate and disappear just because it is sprayed.
'No matter how much you bounce off and scatter my White Flame with wind, my fire continues to live in that state.'
In other words, no matter how much they deflected, Sven's fire was accumulating steadily on the battlefield.
And what that meant was…….
'This battlefield will gradually be dyed into my sphere of influence.'
And Riman knew it too.
That Sven's offensive was not something that could be solved by deflecting.
But he knew the only way to extinguish Sven's fire all at once.
'Just kill him.'
White Flame was resonating with the mana inside Sven's body.
In other words, if Sven is killed and that resonance structure is cut off, the White Flame extinguishes.
In short, a time limit was placed on this battle.
Before Sven's fire completely covered this battlefield, he had to kill Sven and extinguish this fire.
Fortunately, Sven was a guy who could be dealt with somehow if approached.
His physical ability was at the level of an ordinary adult male, and he had no resistance to his own fire, so he couldn't light fires close to his own body.
But that approach itself wasn't easy in this situation.
Because Johnny was locking the door right in the middle.
A form where Johnny blocked entry from the front, and Sven fired support shots from the rear.
A typical tanker and dealer formation.
Simple, something anyone could think of, and thus a solid structure difficult to break.
Of course, Riman's side was also taking a similar formation.
Knox in the front, Riman in the rear.
But the problem was that there was one more person on that side.
An existence that seemed to be doing nothing at the very rear but controlled the tide of this battle.
Chae Hong-gyu.
His ability was Blood Magic.
Before this battle began, he shared blood with Johnny and Sven.
A blood link formed thereby.
Through that link, Chae Hong-gyu shared senses with Johnny and Sven and could deliver his instructions without delay.
The reason Johnny and Sven could team play almost like one body was thanks to the command through this ability of Chae Hong-gyu.
Of course, Riman was also commanding Knox through [Sound Transmission].
But Riman was in a situation where he had to handle both command and long-range support.
In other words, Riman was taking on the work of two people alone.
This meant-
'If it goes to a prolonged battle, it's a sure defeat.'
A situation where the longer the battle dragged on, the deeper the shade of defeat for Riman's side.
So before the White Flame covered this entire battlefield.
Before more fatigue accumulated in Riman's brain.
He had to end it unconditionally with a short-term decisive battle.
Even if it meant using some gambling moves.
Riman said to Knox via Sound Transmission.
'Knox, from now on, do as I say.'
"I'm already doing it……!"
'It means follow even instructions difficult to accept without hesitation.'
"……!"
CRUNCH!
POP POP POP!
Once again, Johnny's mouth dug in, and Sven's White Flame flew in a parabolic trajectory like a meteor.
Rocks and ground were shaved off as if erased by an eraser, and white fire splattered in all directions, adding heat to the battlefield.
Destruction and combustion.
The destruction of the battlefield was accelerating.
And the instigators of that destruction were Johnny and Sven.
This battlefield was being dyed with their colors.
Riman's front line was gradually being pushed back by that pressure.
Knox was busy just dodging according to Riman's instructions, and Riman was busy just blocking and scattering the flying White Flame.
Not exchanging offense and defense, but a situation barely managing defense.
The shade of defeat for Riman's side was deepening endlessly.
And eventually, Knox exploded in anger.
"Hey, you bastard!! You said trust only you!! We're going to die at this rate!!"
"……."
"Hey!!"
But Riman let Knox's shout go in one ear and out the other.
It wasn't a situation to answer such things one by one.
'Perfect timing.'
The very timing when the probability of hitting the gambling move becomes maximum.
The enemies' positions, direction of gaze, distribution of flames, flow of offense and defense.
The most perfect moment when all those elements intersect at the optimal point.
Riman was aiming for that single moment.
And until that moment came, he dragged the battle with Knox at the forefront.
For that single moment to overturn the battle situation.
Calculation, calculation, calculation.
Only endless calculations were taking place in Riman's head.
All variables of the battlefield flickered ceaselessly in his mind, and the pouring result values were aggregated and discarded, refining his thinking.
'Read it.'
Patterns, movement paths, habits, delays, gazes.
All those elements collided and intersected ceaselessly, producing countless situations.
And Riman's brain watched, calculated, and simultaneously guided all those situations.
Toward the best direction Riman thought of.
And finally, it came.
That moment.
That very moment intersecting at the optimal point of all variables.
Johnny rushed in as if to bite and tear with his virtual oral cavity wide open, Sven loaded a new flame, and Knox prepared to step back in fright.
And Riman issued an order that the listener could not accept.
'Stop.'
Don't lift your feet, don't swing your sword, stop right there.
A ridiculous order given at a desperate moment when the opponent's attack flew right in front of his nose.
The moment he heard this, only the sentence 'What kind of bullshit is this……!' brushed past Knox's mind.
But simultaneously, what Riman said earlier also brushed past his mind.
-From now on, do as I say.
-It means follow even instructions difficult to accept without hesitation.
Countless hesitations passed through Knox's mind for a split second.
The order to stop right there.
That was clearly an instruction difficult to accept.
Thinking with common sense, it was an instruction to be disobeyed.
But it was also true that thanks to Riman's instructions, he had been able to hold out against Johnny until now.
What to do.
Follow common sense, or trust the instruction.
Consciousness in his head split into two and began a fierce debate.
Knox felt his brain rotating the fastest since he was born.
And reached a conclusion.
Knox raised the hand of trust, not common sense.
He picked up the gambling move Riman chose and threw it onto the board.
STOP.
He stops.
Stops his feet, stops his attack, doesn't even raise his guard.
But his gaze is still directed at Johnny, and the sword hilt is gripped tighter than ever.
With this, the hand is thrown.
The cards are flipped, and finally, the result is revealed in broad daylight.
CRUNCH.
Johnny's Virtual Oral Cavity chewed the empty air.
The hem of Knox's clothes was cut off.
But that was the end.
Because he was dangerously perched on the edge of the Virtual Oral Cavity's range, Johnny's attack missed.
'I lived……! I lived……!'
Even though he committed the crazy act of stopping his feet in front of the opponent's attack, Knox survived.
It was the result of Riman perfectly calculating the Virtual Oral Cavity's range, Johnny's movement speed, and the inertia of that movement.
As a result.
Knox succeeded in approaching the closest point to Johnny throughout the entire time of this battle.
And the time required for the Virtual Oral Cavity to open again after closing is 0.2 seconds.
In other words, from now on, for 0.2 seconds, Johnny becomes helpless.
And for a swordsman, 0.2 seconds is enough time to drive a sword into the opponent.
All situations meshed like cogwheels, rolling toward a single bout of offense.
Riman said.
'Cut.'
Knox swung his sword without hesitation.
SLASH!
A blade soaring diagonally.
Blood soaring following it.
Blood paints over the trajectory of the transparent sword, leaving a trace of the sword in the empty air.
"Gah……!"
A bewildered groan flowed from Johnny's mouth.
At the same time, bewilderment also appeared on Knox's face.
'Shallow……!'
He cut, indeed.
But it was shallow.
Although he left a long sword wound, there was no depth to the cut.
There is no fatal wound.
What he could leave on Johnny was only temporary bewilderment and pain.
This sword strike was too weak to overturn the battle situation driven into a defensive.
Knox, the person directly involved, felt this fact too painfully.
Johnny was the same.
'Shallow……!'
As bewilderment and pain subsided, the situation entered his mind clearly.
This is not a fatal wound.
It's not even a wound that requires me to retreat.
So what I have to do is…….
'Bite him to death.'
Time flows.
0.1 seconds.
0.15 seconds.
And finally, 0.2 seconds.
The turn returned to Johnny.
His mouth opens.
The demonic oral cavity that cuts and annihilates everything reveals itself in the empty air again.
CRACK.
A mouth wide open.
The prey placed before it.
Knox fell into panic just like that, and Johnny's eyes flashed.
Johnny recalled old memories.
He recalled the time he ate a human for the first time.
The fear, plea, grief, and despair that rose above the prey's eyes at that moment.
Salty tears add seasoning to the shadow of those emotions.
Perfect and exquisite salinity.
For a human to eat a human, it wasn't just simply eating meat.
Cannibalism is completed when accepting and digesting even the emotions of the opponent, who is an equal being.
That was his twisted gourmet.
'A waste. Truly a waste.'
It would have been good to eat this guy with my real mouth.
Then I could have fully felt that rich taste of despair.
But he couldn't pursue gourmet even in battle.
Although he was a crazy guy, he had that much discretion.
Therefore, he intended to swallow and erase Knox in one bite.
Thinking so, at that moment he was about to close his mouth with all his might.
THWACK.
Along with the sound of flesh bursting, blood burst from his flank.
Something long, sharp, and pitch-black was stuck in Johnny's flank.